Digital Commons Network^™

The Relations Among Parenting Style, Parent-Adolescent Relationship, Family Stress, Cultural Context And Depressive Symptomatology Among Adolescent Females, Dayna M.V. Diaz

Psychology Dissertations

This study examines the relations between depressive symptom expression and cultural and family contexts among adolescent females from different ethnic groups. Specifically, ethnic identity, parenting style, family stress and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships were examined as potential protective factors for depressive symptom expression among a diverse group of female adolescents. This study addressed the following research questions: 1) Are there ethnic group differences in depressive symptom expression across Latina, African American and Asian adolescent females? 2) Are there ethnic group differences in the association of family processes with depressive symptom expression across these three ethnic groups? 3) Regardless of …

Cognitive Error Questionnaire (Ceq) : Psychometric Properties And Factor Structure Of The German Translation., Patrick Pössel

Faculty Scholarship

A central component of Beck et al.’s (1979) cognitive theory of depression is faulty information processing reflected by so-called cognitive errors. These cognitive errors are the reason why depressed individuals systematically misinterpret the significance of events in a negative way. They are usually assessed with the application of the Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CEQ). This study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the German version of the CEQ in a sample of 796 volunteers at a German university. Results confirmed that the German CEQ has satisfactory to very good psychometric properties, like the American original. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated …

Depressive Symptoms And Marital Satisfaction In The Context Of Chronic Disease: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis, Rachel Pruchno, Maureen Wilson-Genderson, Francine P Cartwright

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

These analyses examined the longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction over a 2-year period as experienced by 315 patients with end-stage renal disease and their spouses. Using multilevel modeling, the authors examined both individual and cross-partner effects of depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction on patients and spouses, testing bidirectional causality. Results indicate that mean and time-varying depressive symptoms of both patients and spouses were associated with their own marital satisfaction. Although mean marital satisfaction was associated with own depressive symptoms for both patients and spouses, time-varying marital satisfaction did not affect depressive symptoms for either patients or spouses. …

The Role Of The Peer Group In Adolescence: Effects On Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms, Glen J. Veed

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An adolescent’s peer group has been theorized to influence the development of psychopathology. However, little research has examined the adolescent peer group using information obtained directly from peers in a longitudinal framework. Research has also been limited on peer group influence on the development of internalizing disorders. The study used Social Network Analysis to examine self-reported anxiety, depression, aggression, and delinquency in the fall and spring of one school year for students in a rural high school. In addition to examining the effect of the peer group on individual reports of psychopathology, the strength of this relation was compared to …

Cognitive Triad Inventory (Cti) : Psychometric Properties And Factor Structure Of The German Translation., Patrick Pössel

Faculty Scholarship

A central component of Beck, A. T., Rush, J., & Shaw, B. F. [(1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press] cognitive theory of depression is the cognitive triad (negative view of self, world, and future) measurable with the Cognitive Triad Inventory (CTI). This study examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of the German CTI in a sample of 796 German volunteers. The study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the German CTI and of independent positive and negative elements of the cognitive triad. Furthermore, results emphasize methodological above conceptual problems in Beck et al.'s (1979) …

The Contribution Of Anxiety And Depression To Fatigue Among A Sample Of Australian University Students: Suggestions For University Counsellors, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Ryan Bell

Vicki Bitsika

Responses to the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS: Zung, W. (1971). A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics, 12, 371-379), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS: Zung, W. (1973). From art to science: The diagnosis and treatment of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 29, 328-337) and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) developed by Krupp and colleagues (Krupp, L.B., LaRocca, N.G., Muir-Nash, J., & Steinberg, A.D. (1989). The fatigue severity scale: Application to patients with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Archives of Neurology, 46, 1121-1123) were collected from 200 Australian university students to explore the links between these three disorders. Reliability …

Salivary Cortisol, Psychological Stress And Depressive Symptoms Among Patients Undergoing Colon Cancer Screenings, Allyson Reid

Honors Scholar Theses

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colon cancer has a high cure rate if detected early by a colonoscopy (U.S.

Cancer Statistics Working Group, 2007). However, more than 41 million at-risk Americans are not properly receiving colonoscopy screenings according to the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control. This study provides insight into the physiological and psychological benefits of the colonoscopy procedure over and above cancer detection and prevention. Thirty-six patients receiving colonoscopic screening at the University of Connecticut Health Center participated in this study. A questionnaire battery that assessed perceived stress, depressive symptoms, …

Secondary Analysis Of Diabetes And Psychological Distress In American Indian Women From The California Health Interview Survey (Chis)., Audry Marie Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since European settlers arrived to the United States (U.S.), American Indians (AI) have been separate and unequal members of society. After a long history of discrimination, ethnocide, genocide, and distrust, the AI have become a population with severe disparities, having the highest rates of diabetes, depression, suicide, tuberculosis, and alcoholism than any other minority or majority population in the U.S. The author's purpose for conducting this study was to explore a possible relationship between depression or psychological distress and diabetes in AI women.

AI women are the most under studied group in the country; therefore, a secondary analysis of the …

Efficacy Of A Brief Intervention For Insomnia Among Psychiatric Outpatients, James Nile Wagley

Theses and Dissertations

Psychiatric patients are particularly affected by symptoms of insomnia. Because insomnia is often secondary to other conditions and was once thought to be less treatable, this condition has received little attention in terms of treatment and research. Additionally, psychiatric patients have typically fewer resources to seek treatment. Generally, insomnia is treated with medications that may have biological side effects and offer little restorative sleep. Behavioral or cognitive interventions have often been overlooked. This experiment uses profile analysis to test the hypothesis that psychiatric outpatients randomized to a treatment group would have decreased levels of sleep difficulties (measured by PSQI) when …

Is It The Blues? Depression & Suicide Prevention In Our Schools, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Discusses the prevalence of depression and suicide among children and teenagers, the factors behind it, signs and symptoms, and what educators can do to help prevent it and help suffering students.

Training Forgetting Of Negative Material In Depression, Jutta Joormann, Paula T. Hertel, J. Lemoult, Ian Henry Gotlib

Psychology Faculty Research

In this study, the authors investigated whether training participants to use cognitive strategies can aid forgetting in depression. Participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and never-depressed participants learned to associate neutral cue words with a positive or negative target word and were then instructed not to think about the negative targets when shown their cues. The authors compared 3 different conditions: an unaided condition, a positive-substitute condition, and a negative-substitute condition. In the substitute conditions, participants were instructed to use new targets to keep from thinking about the original targets. After the training phase, participants were instructed to recall …

Comorbid Chronic Pain And Depression: Who Is At Risk?, L. R. Miller, Annmarie Cano

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and demographic risk factors of chronic pain and its comorbidity with depression. Computer-assisted telephone interviewing was utilized to obtain a representative community sample in the state of Michigan (N = 1,179). The prevalence of chronic pain due to any cause was 21.9%. Approximately 35% of participants with chronic pain also had comorbid depression (7.7% of the entire sample). Depression was not associated with pain types or sites. A multinomial regression analysis revealed several demographic correlates of chronic pain and depression. Participants with chronic pain or comorbid pain and depression were …

Everyday Magic : A Depressed Mother's Guide, Diana Coulson-Brown

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation project was threefold: to develop a cognitive-behavioral manual for therapists, a self-help manual for depressed mothers, and a guide to assist children, aged 6 to 11, through the risks of depression was paramount in the design of this project. Given a paradigm shift in the field of psychotherapy towards resilience, this manual is timely in that it is a valuable resource for promoting resilience outcomes in both mothers and their children. This manual includes a variety of social, emotional, and behavioral activities for mothers and children, allowing mothers to be at the forefront of establishing …

Is Alexithymia A Predictor Of College Student Alcohol Abuse?, Diane Arms

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Alexithymia, as defined by Sifneos (1973), literally means "no words for emotions." It is characterized by the following three domains: 1) the incapacity to identify feelings, 2) inability to describe feelings and 3) the tendency to think in externally oriented ways (Salminen, Saarijarvi, & Aarela, 1995; Sifneos, 2000). Although alexithymia is not a diagnosable disorder, it has been shown to be related to a wide variety of other constructs (e.g. alcohol use, depression and parenting styles). This study examined the interrelationships between alexithymia and student alcohol use, while controlling for sex, perceived parental alcohol use, perceived parenting styles and student …

The Effects, Brain Targets, And Mechanisms Of Estradiol For Affective Behavior, Alicia Ann Walf

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although estradiol (E2) has numerous effects in the central nervous system, this review will focus on addressing the effects of E2 on behaviors related to mood in women and animal models and include recent findings from our laboratory related to this topic. E2's anti-anxiety and anti-depressant-like effects may depend upon many factors (e.g. age, reproductive history/status, time in E2 deficient state before initiation of E2 therapy, regimen and dosing of E2, neuropsychiatric/stress history). First, evidence of how factors may alter responses to E2 in people and in animal models will be discussed. Second, interactions of E2 with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis/stress …

An Assessment Of The Positive Aspects Of Depression, Lisa H. Dulgar-Tulloch

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Whether described as positive reappraisal coping, benefit-finding, or adversarial growth, perceiving benefits in physical illness has been associated repeatedly with positive long-term results. However, little research has explored whether those with mental disorders perceive similar benefits from their illness.

Is It All In Your Mind? Gastrointestinal Problems, Anxiety And Depression, Meghan Rieu Werden

Undergraduate Review

Relationships between gastrointestinal (GI) problems, anxiety, and depression were investigated in two studies using non-clinical populations. Study 1 measures included the trait anxiety scale from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression scale (CES-D), and the Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40). Study 2 measures included the STAI, and the Profile of Mood States (POMS), portions of which were used to assess anxious mood state and depressed mood state. Trait anxiety predicted stomach cramps; anxious mood state predicted nausea and general GI problems; and depression predicted stomach problems. Findings suggest that psychological factors may be involved in physical …

Traumatic Stress As A Predictor Of Suicidality, Sherry Malana Todd

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Suicide is a deliberate act of annihilation against one's self due to a crisis of problem solving. Far too many youth are dying by their own hands resulting in suicide being the third leading cause of death for 10-19 year olds (CDC, 2005). Suicide is particularly problematic for adolescents due to the impulsivity inherent in adolescent development. Since 1980, the national suicide rate of African American youth has increased by 114 percent (CDC). Suicidality has been positively correlated with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Kessler et al., 1999). Suicidality is more prevalent when a person experiences a tragic or …

Elevated Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone In Human Pregnancy Increases The Risk Of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms, Ilona S. Yim, Laura M. Glynn, Christine Dunkel Schetter, Calvin J. Hobel, Aleksandra Chicz-Demet, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Postpartum depression (PPD) is common and has serious implications for the mother and her newborn. A possible link between placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH) and PPD incidence has been discussed, but there is a lack of empirical evidence.

Depression In Korean Immigrant Women, Darin Lee Rorrer

Theses Digitization Project

This study found that the depression levels of Korean immigrant women in the U.S are affected by their education and/or income levels, often stemming from their inability to successfully navigate in the American culture.

Loneliness As A Partial Mediator Of The Relation Between Low Social Preference In Childhood And Anxious/Depressed Symptoms In Adolescence, Reid Griffith Fontaine, Chongming Yang, Virginia Salzer Burks, Kenneth A. Dodge, Joseph M. Price, Gregory S. Pettit, John E. Bates

Reid G. Fontaine

This study examined the mediating role of loneliness (assessed by self-report at Time 2; Grade 6) in the relation between early social preference (assessed by peer report at Time 1; kindergarten through Grade 3) and adolescent anxious/depressed symptoms (assessed by mother, teacher, and self-reports at Time 3; Grades 7–9). Five hundred eighty-five boys and girls (48% female; 16% African American) from three geographic sites of the Child Development Project were followed from kindergarten through Grade 9. Loneliness partially mediated and uniquely incremented the significant effect of low social preference in childhood on anxious/depressed symptoms in adolescence, controlling for early anxious/depressed …